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Gerardo “Tata” Martino Coaching Final Game for United Amid Mexican National Team Speculation

Coverage on UniMás Begins Saturday, December 8 at 7 p.m. ET

Gerardo “Tata” Martino looks to lead his team to the ultimate prize.

WHAT: The Major League Soccer season culminates this Saturday when one of MLS’ newest clubs, Atlanta United FC, hosts the Portland Timbers in the 2018 MLS Cup. Univision Deportes, the undisputed Home of Soccer in the U.S., will broadcast the championship match on UniMás, with live coverage from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta beginning at 7 p.m. ET on December 8 with “La Barra MLS,” presented by The Home Depot.

There hasn’t been much of a learning curve for Atlanta United FC since the club joined MLS in 2017. After making the playoffs and winning the hearts of Georgians in their inaugural season, United has been even more successful in 2018. With MLS’ top goal scorer, Josef Martínez, leading the league’s most explosive attack, United finished the regular season as the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed and set a new attendance record before dominating both NYC FC and the New York Red Bulls in the postseason. Now, coaching his final match for United amid speculation that he could be the next coach of the Mexican National Team, Gerardo “Tata” Martino looks to lead his team to the ultimate prize.

Standing in United’s way are the Portland Timbers, who have shocked the Western Conference’s top clubs en route to the MLS Cup. Since emerging from the regular season as the No. 5 seed, the Timbers have knocked off FC Dallas, the rival Seattle Sounders in penalty kicks and top-seeded Sporting KC on a 99th-minute goal by top scorer Diego Valeri. For the Timbers, Saturday marks an opportunity to add another star to their kits alongside the one representing their 2015 MLS Cup victory. While the Timbers’ roster includes eight members of that 2015 championship side, coach Giovanni Savarese will be competing for his first MLS Cup.

In their lone regular-season matchup in 2018, the clubs battled to a 1-1 draw in Atlanta on goals by Larrys Mabiala for the Timbers and Julian Gressel for United.

Viewers can join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The MLS Cup will be available to authenticated subscribers via the Univision Deportes app. Fans are encouraged to download the app for iOS and/or Android. The match will also be available on Univision Now with authentication.